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Erfworld
Erfworld is a story-driven fantasy/comedy webcomic and independently published graphic novel. The series follows Parson, a master strategy gamer summoned into a wargame by a desperate faction desiring a warlord- leaving him trapped in the game. It was written by Rob Balder, who worked with many illustrators over its run. Erfworld began publication in December 2006 on the website Giant in the Playground, better known for hosting The Order of the Stick. It moved to its own website with the completion of Book 1, as had originally been intended, and was highly popular in the early 2010s. It continued until its abrupt cancellation part way through Book 5 in October 2019.
The comic heavily features contemporary memes, pop culture references, and mechanical references to war games. In particular, several characters and motifs are drawn from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. In juxtaposition to its warlike themes, the visual style is deliberately "cute". The characters resemble dolls or toys and are unable to use profanity. The plot, setting, and characters were released under a Creative Commons Attribution, Noncommercial, ShareAlike license.
Erfworld was divided into "Books" which acted as narrative divisions. Prologue and epilogue pages were usually numbered distinctly and so are represented separately here.
The prequel follows two warlords- the croakamancer Wanda and Princess Jillian of Faq, who both struggle in their own ways against the might of Haffaton, a vast empire. Wanda's side Goodminton is defeated, and Olive Branch of Haffaton manipulates her into defecting. Jillian is captured by Haffaton, and taken to Efbaum, the Emerald City. The ruler of Haffaton, Judy, uses the Arkenshoes to return to her own world. In a swift maneouver, Jillian and the others from Faq are able to snipe the near-abandoned capital and assassinate Branch. The move dissolves Haffaton- and a deal with the Wizard Charlescomm heals Wanda, at the cost of razing the city.
The strategy gamer Parson Gotti is summoned from Earth into Erfworld, to be the "perfect warlord" under Lord Stanley, who faces a doomed defense of his last city. Parson orchestrates the defense using his knowledge of tabletop strategy games. As Erfworld is governed by game-like rules he is extremely skilled at this and is aided by his calculator watch which the locals consider a powerful magic item. Jillian and Wanda find themselves on opposing sides in this conflict, with Wanda deploying uncroaked units in defence of the city, Jillian aiding Prince Ansom in his siege, and Charlescomm extracting payment for intermittent aid to either side. As a last resort Parson activates the volcano beneath the city to kill their foes, which achieves a technical victory. Wanda gains control of Ansom's Arkenpliers and "decrypts" the invading army, which is then resurrected and under her command. This includes Lillith, one of Charlie's archons, and Ansom himself.
Wanda's control of the Arkenpliers allows Gobwin Knob to expand and capture many cities, striking back against the coalition that had sieged their capital. After the fall of Unaroyal, Wanda lays siege to Spacerock, the capital of Jetstone and Ansom's family home. Jillian, now queen of a refounded Faq, captures Ansom and leaves the battle. Parson is initially only guiding the attack from the rear, but attempts to transit through the Magic Kingdom's portals against convention to reach the city quickly and salvage their attack. This causes a dispute with the magicians there and leads Parson to realise that he was summoned not just to defend Gobwin Knob but to defeat Charlescomm. Parson learns of how Charlie summoned Judy to Erfworld to defeat the Wicked Witch of the West and seize the Arkendish. He is aware of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and recognises Charlie as the Wizard. Spacerock falls, though Jetstone are able to capture Lillith and get her out of the city. Parson is forced to occupy the Magic Kingdom.
With Charlescomm’s backing, Jillian attempts a decapitation strike on Gobwin Knob’s largely unprotected core. She is rebuffed by Stanley, loses Ansom, and is forced into retreat. Despite their recent advances, Parson convinces Stanley to engage with diplomacy as being at war with a coalition that includes every neighbouring land is unsustainable. With a truce with Charlie in effect, Parson meets with various factions in the Magic Kingdom, some of which oppose Charlie. Lillith is traded to Charlescomm by Jetstone, and a prison break attempt by her proves expensive for Gobwin Knob as it results in truce violations. She damages the city but makes it back to the Magic Kingdom with several assault rifles, then unknown technology elsewhere in Erfworld. Charlie pursues and the Magic Kingdom becomes a bloodbath. Wanda is captured, and Parson retreats into Transylvito, surrendering to the authorities there.
Parson and his friends face torture in Transylvito, and their captors learn that Jillian is being supported by Charlie. Transylvito sits at the centre of a diplomatic push from both Gobwin Knob and Charlescomm- with their leader Don King debating which group to side with, and determine what contingencies and espionage the two have in play. Jillian manages to capture Gobwin Knob’s original capital with little resistance in Parson and Stanley’s absence- though their seat of power had earlier been moved to Spacerock. Ultimately, Don King is assassinated by his own underling over an internal dispute and his successor Caesar aligns Transylvito with Gobwin Knob. They intervene on behalf of their allies and capture Faq, isolating Jillian. Fighting breaks out in the normally neutral Magic Kingdom when casters attempt to start executing prisoners. Wanda is freed and flees underground, resulting in Minecraft themed attacks from tunneling casters and Charlie’s archons. The towers of each capital develop into sentient “temples” that become involved in side administration. Parson is tricked into using a scroll intended to send him back to Earth, but he is instead teleported to Spacerock. An increasingly frail Charlie attacks and blackmails Transylvito, while Parson and Stanley prepare for another invasion of the Magic Kingdom.
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Erfworld
Erfworld is a story-driven fantasy/comedy webcomic and independently published graphic novel. The series follows Parson, a master strategy gamer summoned into a wargame by a desperate faction desiring a warlord- leaving him trapped in the game. It was written by Rob Balder, who worked with many illustrators over its run. Erfworld began publication in December 2006 on the website Giant in the Playground, better known for hosting The Order of the Stick. It moved to its own website with the completion of Book 1, as had originally been intended, and was highly popular in the early 2010s. It continued until its abrupt cancellation part way through Book 5 in October 2019.
The comic heavily features contemporary memes, pop culture references, and mechanical references to war games. In particular, several characters and motifs are drawn from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. In juxtaposition to its warlike themes, the visual style is deliberately "cute". The characters resemble dolls or toys and are unable to use profanity. The plot, setting, and characters were released under a Creative Commons Attribution, Noncommercial, ShareAlike license.
Erfworld was divided into "Books" which acted as narrative divisions. Prologue and epilogue pages were usually numbered distinctly and so are represented separately here.
The prequel follows two warlords- the croakamancer Wanda and Princess Jillian of Faq, who both struggle in their own ways against the might of Haffaton, a vast empire. Wanda's side Goodminton is defeated, and Olive Branch of Haffaton manipulates her into defecting. Jillian is captured by Haffaton, and taken to Efbaum, the Emerald City. The ruler of Haffaton, Judy, uses the Arkenshoes to return to her own world. In a swift maneouver, Jillian and the others from Faq are able to snipe the near-abandoned capital and assassinate Branch. The move dissolves Haffaton- and a deal with the Wizard Charlescomm heals Wanda, at the cost of razing the city.
The strategy gamer Parson Gotti is summoned from Earth into Erfworld, to be the "perfect warlord" under Lord Stanley, who faces a doomed defense of his last city. Parson orchestrates the defense using his knowledge of tabletop strategy games. As Erfworld is governed by game-like rules he is extremely skilled at this and is aided by his calculator watch which the locals consider a powerful magic item. Jillian and Wanda find themselves on opposing sides in this conflict, with Wanda deploying uncroaked units in defence of the city, Jillian aiding Prince Ansom in his siege, and Charlescomm extracting payment for intermittent aid to either side. As a last resort Parson activates the volcano beneath the city to kill their foes, which achieves a technical victory. Wanda gains control of Ansom's Arkenpliers and "decrypts" the invading army, which is then resurrected and under her command. This includes Lillith, one of Charlie's archons, and Ansom himself.
Wanda's control of the Arkenpliers allows Gobwin Knob to expand and capture many cities, striking back against the coalition that had sieged their capital. After the fall of Unaroyal, Wanda lays siege to Spacerock, the capital of Jetstone and Ansom's family home. Jillian, now queen of a refounded Faq, captures Ansom and leaves the battle. Parson is initially only guiding the attack from the rear, but attempts to transit through the Magic Kingdom's portals against convention to reach the city quickly and salvage their attack. This causes a dispute with the magicians there and leads Parson to realise that he was summoned not just to defend Gobwin Knob but to defeat Charlescomm. Parson learns of how Charlie summoned Judy to Erfworld to defeat the Wicked Witch of the West and seize the Arkendish. He is aware of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and recognises Charlie as the Wizard. Spacerock falls, though Jetstone are able to capture Lillith and get her out of the city. Parson is forced to occupy the Magic Kingdom.
With Charlescomm’s backing, Jillian attempts a decapitation strike on Gobwin Knob’s largely unprotected core. She is rebuffed by Stanley, loses Ansom, and is forced into retreat. Despite their recent advances, Parson convinces Stanley to engage with diplomacy as being at war with a coalition that includes every neighbouring land is unsustainable. With a truce with Charlie in effect, Parson meets with various factions in the Magic Kingdom, some of which oppose Charlie. Lillith is traded to Charlescomm by Jetstone, and a prison break attempt by her proves expensive for Gobwin Knob as it results in truce violations. She damages the city but makes it back to the Magic Kingdom with several assault rifles, then unknown technology elsewhere in Erfworld. Charlie pursues and the Magic Kingdom becomes a bloodbath. Wanda is captured, and Parson retreats into Transylvito, surrendering to the authorities there.
Parson and his friends face torture in Transylvito, and their captors learn that Jillian is being supported by Charlie. Transylvito sits at the centre of a diplomatic push from both Gobwin Knob and Charlescomm- with their leader Don King debating which group to side with, and determine what contingencies and espionage the two have in play. Jillian manages to capture Gobwin Knob’s original capital with little resistance in Parson and Stanley’s absence- though their seat of power had earlier been moved to Spacerock. Ultimately, Don King is assassinated by his own underling over an internal dispute and his successor Caesar aligns Transylvito with Gobwin Knob. They intervene on behalf of their allies and capture Faq, isolating Jillian. Fighting breaks out in the normally neutral Magic Kingdom when casters attempt to start executing prisoners. Wanda is freed and flees underground, resulting in Minecraft themed attacks from tunneling casters and Charlie’s archons. The towers of each capital develop into sentient “temples” that become involved in side administration. Parson is tricked into using a scroll intended to send him back to Earth, but he is instead teleported to Spacerock. An increasingly frail Charlie attacks and blackmails Transylvito, while Parson and Stanley prepare for another invasion of the Magic Kingdom.